Brian Butler wonders at West End star Scott St Martyn’s latest memoir
Brian Butler wonders at West End star Scott St Martyn’s latest memoir
Dame Martyn Knight returns as one half of the ugliest sisters around – with his partner in crime, Scott St. Martyn who has known Martyn since the age of 11 – and been best friends ever since. The first day of rehearsals will in fact mark their 50th anniversary of them both becoming friends!
When La Cage Aux Folles opened in 1983 it was very much a ‘piece of its time’ scripted by Harvey Fierstein with music by Jerry Herman and introducing the world to the fabulous Les Cagelles. Those were the days before we had gay marriage and many of the rights we now enjoy. The musical gave gay people at the time the chance to experience the fabulous illusion created at the La Cage nightclub in Saint-Tropez by middle age drag queen and star of the show Albin (Zsa Zsa) and his partner Georges who together owned the nightclub.
Written by Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman, and based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, La Cage Aux Folles follows the story of Georges, the manager of a Saint Tropez nightclub, and his partner, Albin, a drag artiste and the club’s star attraction. They live an idyllic existence in the south of France but behind the curtains of this sparkling extravaganza, all may be about to change when Georges’ son Jean-Michel announces his engagement to the daughter of a notorious right-wing politician determined to close down the local colourful night-life. Drama and hilarity ensue when a meeting of the parents forces them to cover up their vibrant lifestyle. Will Albin be able to play the role of his life to ensure that Jean-Michel can marry his love?
Bill Kenwright presents the much-loved musical LA CAGE AUX FOLLES with John Partridge as Albin and Adrian Zmed as Georges, which opens in Oxford on Thursday, January 5, 2017 and comes to Brighton on August 5, 2017 at the end of its nationwide tour and the opening of the Brighton Pride weekend.
